Wednesday, March 1, 2017 – Lansing, MI – With president Trump’s first six weeks and his first address to a Joint Session of Congress now the books, Michigan’s leading political pundits are ready to weigh in on the president’s first major milestone and offer predictions on the success he will have navigating his proposals through Congress.

The 100 political insiders who make up the Pundit Poll roster were asked:

1) What grade would you give President Trump’s Joint Session of Congress address?, and

2) What percentage of President Trump’s proposals will be passed by Congress in the next two years?

Unsurprisingly, opinions on President Trump’s address to the Joint Session of Congress split down party lines.

"How he did really depends on who you ask,” said Dennis Denno, president of Denno Research. “Republican pundits were much more inclined to view this speech as a success, whereas the majority of Democrats thought Trump’s address fell flat.”

· 71 percent of Republican Pundits graded Trump’s Joint Session address as an A or a B.

Overall, the Pundits were more closely aligned when asked to speculate on the level of success Trump will have in passing his proposals through Congress over the next few years, with Republicans being slightly more bullish.

· 58 percent of Republicans think President Trump will succeed in getting 59% or less of his proposals passed through Congress

· 87 percent of Democrats think President Trump will succeed in getting 59% or less of his proposals passed through Congress

“Last night’s address reaffirmed that President Trump clearly has an aggressive agenda, and the one thing Pundits on both sides of the aisle seem to agree on is that there is no chance he’ll succeed in getting it all fully implemented,” said Matt Resch, president of Resch Strategies

The Pundit Poll is a survey on the latest political news and issues in Michigan. The survey uses emails to collect the compiled and confidential responses from political strategists, consultants, and insiders across Michigan, with the goal of offering an insider’s look at the political issues facing the state. A full list of 100 pundits in the poll can be found at: www.thepunditpoll.com.

Methodology:

This was a Resch Strategies/Denno Research survey of Michigan political experts, pundits, and members of the media. 100 respondents were invited and 50 responded. The survey was emailed immediately after the conclusion of President Trump’s address on Tuesday, February 28 and the survey was closed Wednesday morning, March 1.